This debate has gone on since 1917, when Remington bought the patent from John Browning and started making the Remington 17. Ithaca didn't get into the pump gun end of the business until the patent expired, by which time Remington had introduced the Model 31. The 17 I had the privilege of trying out was one heck of a nice, light gun.
I think I would like a M12 in 12 ga for shooting a lot and walking a little, a M37 (or M17 if I could find a decent one) in 20 ga for walking a lot and shooting a little, and a M31 in 16 ga for the sake of completeness.
I have never messed with M97s much. I think they represent Browning's level of development in pumpsters in 1897, and the M17 was his mature thought after taking another 20 years to think about it. Lee Marvin did a heck of a job with his in "The Professionals" though, didn't he?
